


Corus in the Springtime

by SneakyHufflepuff



Category: Tortall - Tamora Pierce
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-26
Updated: 2014-04-26
Packaged: 2018-01-20 22:29:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1528016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SneakyHufflepuff/pseuds/SneakyHufflepuff
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Based on a prompt from Sweetwatersong: <i>Tortall, there's something about winter she misses in the spring.</i></p><p>In which Sir Keladry of Mindelan puts a female page on probation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Corus in the Springtime

Sir Keladry of Mindelan threw her muddy boots aside as she rapidly changed her clothes into something a Court noble would consider acceptable attire. She forewent her usual bath with a grimace. All she had time for was to slip on a dress over her sweat and comb her hair. Lord Carrath would have to deal with her as she was. She hastily put on her slippers and headed towards the door, careful to avoid the muddy footprints she’d left behind her.

She never thought she’d miss the winter. Twelve long years in Scanra and Northern Tortall had taught her the value of warmth. But in Corus spring was mud and more mud, and as the Training Master, she had to run through the mud with a group of overly energetic pages. Well, she didn’t have to, but she tended to follow the Wyldon school of thought. Don’t make the pages do training that you were not willing to do yourself.

She hurried through the halls, faster than was strictly proper, but no one expected elegance and refinement from Kel. The servants smiled at her as she passed, and the nobles gave at least a nod of respect. She returned both, turning into the hall that housed her office, as well as the offices of the other Knights with (supposedly) non-political roles at the Castle.

The painting of Sir Alanna on the wall next to her office looked down on her, as it always did. The beautiful and dainty Alanna in the photo bore little resemblance to the real thing, grey haired and full of wiry strength. Still, Alanna hadn’t returned to the Castle since King Jonathan’s death, preferring to spend her time at Pirate’s Swoop. This was the image that her pages had of the famed Lady Knight, a young woman in a purple gown without any muscle definition, holding a sword with a grip that Kel was sure Alanna would be horrified by. In fact, she and Neal had a running bet about how long it would take the Lady Knight to burn the portrait once she saw it. 

Kel passed through the door of her outer office, just on time judging by the bell tolling that reverberated through the building. Her secretary, Gale, gave Kel a reproving look.

"They’re waiting for you," Gale told her. From the woman’s upper class accent and impeccable bearing it was almost impossible to tell she had been a former bandit.

"Thank you, Gale," Kel said.

Kel pushed the door open to see Lord Carrath and his daughter, Loren, standing in her office, waiting for her. She felt a spark of excitement rise within her at the sight of another female page. There were currently seven lady knights in Tortall, _seven!_ but she still cherished each girl willing to become a page a little more than the boys, even if she’d never show outright favoritism.

"Lady Knight," Lord Carrath said with a bow.

"Lord Carrath. I’m glad you could join me."

Kel curtseyed back. Her excitement was diminished somewhat once she got a closer look at Loren. She was glaring at Kel resentfully.

"Please, take a seat," Kel said, moving to her own seat behind her desk. 

Lord Carrath sat, and with a nudge from her father, Loren did the same.

"Training Mistress Keladry," Lord Carrath started.

Kel smiled serenely back, resisting the urge to grit her teeth. Her title was Training Master. 

"I’m so happy you agreed to speak with us, especially since it’s halfway through the training year," he told her, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

"Of course, Milord." Kel smiled at Loren, hoping the girl would warm up to her.

A lot of the pages got homesick and resented her, and she hoped Loren wouldn’t be one of them.

Loren’s eyes flicked over Kel’s clothes, obviously finding them wanting. 

“Loren so desperately wants to be a knight, and she doesn’t want to start late. I was hoping that she could enter the program and catch up to the others,” Lord Carrath began what seemed like a rehearsed speech.

Loren turned her hostile glare towards her father. Obviously Lord Carrath was being less than truthful about Loren’s desires.

"One of my best friends started page training at fifteen. It worked out well for him."

Kel thought Neal might object to that description, but she used that explanation all the time with the older pages and their parents, with Neal’s permission. Sometimes she thought they should move up the page training a year or two. The difference in maturity between those who became knights at eighteen and those who became knights at twenty was truly astounding. Still, that was a battle for another day. She had to concentrate on the situation in front of her first.

Kel’s mind worked behind her calm facade. Why would Lord Carrath lie about Loren’s wishes to get her into page training? Most Lords did everything they could to dissuade their daughters from this path.

"Loren is very gifted, ahead of her peers in her studies," Lord Carrath continued.

Carrath wasn’t a wealthy man, but he had influence at Court, and he was obviously hoping she would defer to him. 

"Lord Carrath, do you recall the difficulty of your page training?" Kel asked, all politeness.

Lord Carrath’s brow furrowed at the realization that this wouldn’t be as easy as he thought. 

"Yes, well, but that was when." Carrath paused awkwardly. "It was different."

"It was different," Keladry agreed pleasantly. "For instance, today the pages train much earlier with weighted harnesses. And their training with the lance is more than ceremonial." 

Of course the Traditionalists thought that the new regime was soft compared to the old ways. Kel knew that when the first group of pages she had trained became Knights that they would disprove that claim, but that was six years in coming.

Lord Carrath didn’t quite know how to respond. He gaped at her, unable to find fault with her manner or her arguments. 

"Let me talk to Loren, by herself," Kel offered.

"Of course," Lord Carrath said, hope glimmering in his eyes.

Carrath got up from the chair, bowed, and left the room. Loren looked small and alone in her own chair.

"Do you want to be a knight, Loren?" Kel asked.

"I guess, but-" Loren stopped herself, the honesty of the young overridden by the caution of nobility.

"But?" Kel prompted, gently.

"Like Lady Alanna," Loren finished. _Not like you. Not big, sweaty and unmarried._

That thrice-damned portrait and sanitized legends was all most of her pages knew of Alanna. Kel might burn the portrait herself and save Alanna the trouble.

"But, if you could be anything, what would you be?” Kel looked directly at Loren.

Loren looked down and said nothing. Kel settled back into her chair and waited. She had found that no matter the age of her charges, they would usually speak to fill the silence. Loren began fidgeting in her chair, until she finally she whispered something that Kel couldn’t hear.

"What was that?" Kel asked gently.

"I want to be a mage," Loren said softly.

"Do you have the Gift?" Kel asked. Surely that would have been in the letter Lord Carrath had sent regarding Loren.

"No," Loren admitted sullenly. "But I want to study magic anyway."

"Ah, you want to be a scholar."

Loren nodded, once, so quickly that Kel barely caught the motion.

"Don’t tell father," Loren begged Kel.

"I promise I won’t," Kel said, truthfully. 

"He just wants what’s best for me," Loren said.

"Training for a knighthood is a long and difficult road, more so if you’re a woman," Kel explained.

"Yes, but you’re surrounded by boys, many the eldest in their family," Loren recited, as if she’d heard it before.

Kel could read between the lines. It took everything she had not to react with visible anger. Lord Carrath was putting his daughter on a dangerous path so she could find a husband? All of the lady knights, with the exception of Kel, had married well, most other knights.

"I think I might have a solution," Kel told Loren. "You haven’t been properly trained, have you?"

"Not like my brothers, but I can ride better than they can," Loren said, proudly.

"You should visit the stables while you’re here," Kel told Loren approvingly 

Loren smiled, the first genuine smile Kel had seen her make.

Kel got up from her chair and crept to the door, opening it a crack. Lord Carrath was pacing in the outer office, ignoring Gale, a look of anger on his face. Kel swung the door open completely.

"Lord Carrath, please come back inside."

He did, his expression instantly changing to insincere gratitude.

"You will admit her?" Lord Carrath said, his words somewhere between a question and a command.

"No," Kel said, firmly, putting a hint of battlefield command into her voice.

Lord Carrath drew himself up, obviously ready to explode into anger.

"It is clear to me that she doesn’t have the training to compete with the pages on equal ground. Instead, I propose a compromise."

"A compromise?" Carrath asked suspiciously.

"Yes. You want Loren to go out in the world with the rest of her age cohort, and eventually become a knight, correct?"

"Yes," Carrath spat out. "Obviously."

"Then she can attend classes at the university for the semester, which is starting in a week. While there she can seriously apply herself to her physical training."

Loren looked at Kel, dismay in her eyes. Kel resisted the urge to wink at her and continued.

"And riding. If she still wants to be a page at the start of the summer, we will reevaluate your request then,” Kel finished. 

Loren looked at Kel with something like awe. Lord Carrath nodded smugly, obviously thinking he had gotten what he wanted.

"Agreed." He turned to his daughter. "Now Loren, let’s not take up anymore of the Lady Knight’s time."

Loren got up from her chair and followed him to the door obediently. She looked back at Kel and mouthed a “thank you,” before she left.

Kel watched the two nobles leave, wondering how the day had come where she had essentially put a female page into probation. She shuddered at the letter Lady Alanna would send once she heard the news. Lord Carrath was at least satisfied, but she knew she would soon have a fight on her hands, unless Loren discovered a love for knighthood in the next six months. Hopefully Lord Carrath’s schemes wouldn’t form a new trend.

It would still be winter in Haven. Some part of her wanted to go back there, where it was a simple matter of survival. Then she laughed at the thought. Every day at Haven there had been a new headache, as much as she loved it. And she had done her duty, and she would do the same here, headaches and all.


End file.
